Catching a ride to or from DTW is now easier than ever with AirRide! AirRide, a service of The Ride, offers 12 affordable trips a day from downtown Ann Arbor to Metro Airport. All of their buses are equipped with ADA Compliant wheel chair lifts. For this service, 24-advance registration is required. For more information or to make a reservation, click here. Happy Trails!

In celebration of National Poetry Month and National Library Week, the Ypsilanti District Library is proud to present Poet Billy Collins on Thursday, April 12 at 7 pm at Washtenaw Community College’s Towsley Auditorium in the Morris Lawrence Building. Teens and adults are welcome to attend this special event which is free and open to the public.
Dubbed “the most popular poet in America” by Bruce Weber in The New York Times, Billy Collins is famous for conversational, witty poems that welcome readers with humor but often slip into quirky, tender or profound observations on the everyday, reading and writing, and poetry itself. He served two terms as the U.S. Poet Laureate, from 2001-2003, was New York State Poet Laureate from 2004-2006, and is a regular guest on National Public Radio. He has taught at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence, and Lehman College, City University of New York where he is a distinguished professor.
Collins was born in 1941 in New York City. He earned a BA from the College of the Holy Cross, and both an MA and PhD from the University of California-Riverside. Though Collins published throughout the 1980s, it was his fourth book, Questions about Angels (1991) that propelled him into the literary spotlight. Subsequent works garnered comments noting that Collins’s skillful, smooth style and inventive subject matter “helps us feel the mystery of being alive” and “Rarely has anyone written poems that appear so transparent on the surface yet become so ambiguous, thought-provoking, or simply wise once the reader has peered into the depths.”
A few of his major works include: Nine Horses: Poems (2002), The Trouble with Poetry (2005), Ballistics (2008) and Horoscopes for the Dead (2011). Collins has described himself as “reader conscious”—“I have one reader in mind, someone who is in the room with me, and who I’m talking to, and I want to make sure I don’t talk too fast, or too glibly. Usually I try to create a hospitable tone at the beginning of a poem. Stepping from the title to the first lines is like stepping into a canoe. A lot of things can go wrong.”
The site of the reading will be at Washtenaw Community College’s Towsley Auditorium located at 4800 East Huron River Drive, Ann Arbor, MI.

On March 29th from 6pm to 8pm, the City of Ann Arbor will hold a public meeting to discuss a set of draft overarching sustainability goals developed from existing plans and goals by commissioners from each of the key sustainability commissions and a team of city staff. These goals are an important step in developing Ann Arbor's sustainability framework.

The sustainability goals build on goals already developed through a variety of public processes - from city plans, council resolutions, and the council-approved ten environmental goals. These draft sustainability goals include the three key aspects of sustainability - environment, economy, and equity.

Did you know that 2,756 people will experience homelessness within a year in Washtenaw county? 26% are families and 41 people in the county in any given week become homeless. Last February, AADL hosted a panel discussion with the Washtenaw Housing Alliance (WHA). Watch the video of the panel discussion and learn about the innovative partnerships that have been created to address the need and the next steps needed to end homelessness in our community.

Waldman, active in the Beat Poetry, New York School, and Black Mountain movements, is an integral member of the "Outrider" experimental poetry community, a culture she has helped create and nurture for over four decades as writer, editor, teacher, performer, magpie scholar, and cultural/political activist. Her work is energetic, passionate, panoramic, and fierce at times. Publishers Weekly recently referred to Waldman as "a counter-cultural giant." Waldman will be reading from The Iovis Trilogy: Colors in the Mechanism of Concealment (Coffee House Press, 2011), a 25-year project in the making.

The schedule for the events is as follows:
April 13, 7-9pm: Reading with Anne Waldman. Reception and book-signing to follow.
April 14, 10:30am-noon: Conversations with Poets: Anne Waldman. One Pause Director Sarah Messer interviews Anne Waldman on her approach to poetry. This interview will be recorded and archived as a part of the One Pause Archive Project.

The energy efficiency experts at Clean Energy Coalition return to AADL and invite you to learn all about home energy upgrades. Topics will include what to do, how to pay for it and where you can get more help on your project.

The event will feature displays of Lego creations crafted by talented Lego hobbyists from near and far! Even you can get in on the fun - there will be tables piled high with thousands of LEGO, Duplo, and Bionicle pieces for you to craft your very own creations. In addition, Bricks for Brains will have fun and educational building projects for everyone to take part in. For more information, see the list of featured exhibits and activities.

To better assist patients and their families and friends, the University of Michigan Health System has created a phone line to help connect people to memory loss and dementia services and information. The phone number for this new service, the U-M Memory Connection, is (734) 936-8803. Trained professionals who understand conditions related to memory and/or thinking changes such as Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy Body disease and vascular dementia are available to answer calls Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm.

Celebrate Earth Day at the Leslie Science and Nature Center on April 22 from 12-4pm. "This free, family-friendly event features displays from 50 local environmental, non-profit, and governmental organizations; live animal demonstrations; hands-on activities; product & toy testing; live entertainment; green building & commuting technologies; energy topics; water awareness; sustainable agriculture; and more." Check out the birds of prey and the Critter House. Engage in crafting with the Scrap Box. Dance along with local musicians, Gemini. More details are posted at www.a2earthday.org. Can't make this event? Check out the AADL's collection of Earth Day books and videos for more ways to celebrate Earth Day.

Look for old friends, find a new doctor, or learn about the companies you buy from and invest in. ReferenceUSA is the place for information about businesses, health care providers, and residences in the United States. Besides phone numbers and addresses for both businesses and people, ReferenceUSA also gives you up to date, detailed information on U.S. Companies.

Get your money out of that mattress and get it working for you with the help of Value Line! Value Line has extensive financial and statistical data from independent analysts as well as the Value Line Investment Survey, featuring advice on approximately 1,700 stocks in 97 industries. You can also look through recent news and analysis, educational tools, and information on building an investment portfolio.